The French industry minister who received a letter lambasting his country's
work ethic has retaliated by telling the US boss who sent the insulting
epistle that he has "a perfect ignorance" of France.

Arnaud Montebourg, minister for industrial renewal in France, was subject to a written barrage of abuse from Maurice Taylor, chief executive of US tyremaker Titan, after the French politician appealed for financial support for an ailing Goodyear factory.

Mr Taylor berated French workers for putting in just "three hours" a day, and said his company would be "stupid" to invest in the loss-making tyre plant in Amiens, northern France.

"The French workforce gets paid high wages but only work for three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!" Mr Taylor wrote.

Mr Montebourg, who declined to comment on Wednesday, added his voice to a rising tide of outrage in the Gallic nation in a written response telling the Titan boss "your words, as extremist as they are insulting, show a perfect ignorance of our country."

He went on to point out that since Titan is "20 times smaller" than "French technology leader" Michelin, which is "35 times more profitable", Mr Taylor "could have learnt and gained enormously from a French base."

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, French government spokesman, also chimed in, saying: "I would like to remind Mr Taylor that France remains the number one European destination from American investors."

"And it's likely there are very good reasons for that."

The exchange of letters may have hit a nerve in France, however, where rising unemployment and fears the economy could be lurching back to recession stoke worries that French industry will fall further behind.

France, Europe's second-largest economy after Germany, lags most of its continental peers on global competitiveness, according to a ranking compiled by the World Economic Forum, though figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development show the nation rides high in the top ten of the most productive European countries.

Nonetheless, French commentators have strained to portray Mr Taylor's vociferous letter as nothing more than a typical rant from the American tyre boss.

Pointing to a Titan TV advertisement which features Mr Taylor asserting that putting a Michelin tyre on an American tractor would be "like putting a beret on a cowboy," French daily Le Monde branded his tone "frankly chauvinistic, patronising, or even slightly racist".

Titan plays on the hard reputation of its boss, who made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination in the 1996 presidential election.

The company's website features a biography explaining that Mr Taylor's nickname "The Grizz" comes from his "tough negotiating style" in Washington as well as a logo and sound of a roaring grizzly bear wearing shades.

Late Wednesday, the company's website appeared to have been hacked. It bore the message "You have been hacked" over a photo of loops of tangled barbed wire, and featured obscene taunts against Mr Taylor.